


The Abnormality

by zlmbo



Category: The Amazing World of Gumball
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Major plot change, Self Harm, Storyline change, cuddling(?), headcanons included, idk they might be in? later?, if that’s like A Bad for you, i’d add carrie to the characters list but she isn’t important, might also have the other wattersons but i’ll add em in as i go, not in it much but he causes the angst, part where gumball vomits, slight self harm, the title is ripped from a GHOST song how original, there WILL be some UHHH, there wasn’t character tag for gargoroth but he’s a majorish character, theres also a, well uh. fluff and angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-06-25 17:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15645594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zlmbo/pseuds/zlmbo
Summary: Gumball unintentionally sacrifices himself to Gargoroth and everything goes south, but maybe Rob can help him work this out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This AU is based around the episode The Scam. The timeline where episodes happen is changed. First, this changes The Scam so it happens AFTER The Disaster/The Rerun. Just a two episode difference. All this means is this takes place after Rob stopped being Gumball’s nemesis, even though Gumball doesn’t know. This also means The Ex didn’t happen, so they aren’t “back to where they started” like at the end of that episode. It’s just the “back to where they started” from The Rerun. Sorry if this is confusing.   
> This also changes the course of what happens in The Scam. The only real changes come towards the end, where Gumball, Darwin, and Carrie are running from Gargoroth and Gumball runs into the wall and sorta knocks himself out. The story jumps right in at that point.

  _ **BOOM**_ ** _._** Gumball had slammed his entire body into a wall, not looking where he was going as he ran. Not even a second passed before Gargoroth’s many arms held Gumball prisoner, keeping him tightly in place, pinned up against the wall. Gumball tried to break free in his half-conscious state, to no avail. Darwin and Carrie had attempted to pull the beast off of him to, yet again, no avail. They watched on as the rest of Gargoroth came in to seemingly finish his prey off. Gargoroth had stopped for a moment to stare down at his victim. He studied Gumball’s frantic clawing at the hands holding him back. There was true fear in the boy’s eyes. Gargoroth didn’t even hesitate as he wrapped himself around Gumball, almost like a forcefield around him. Instead of easily killing him, Gargoroth had started emitting a sort of toxic sludge from its many orifices. It had covered the small cat from head to toe when Gargoroth stopped. Suddenly, he then backed off of Gumball and descended back to where the underworld where he came from.

” _Gumball_!” Darwin had cried out as he ran over to check if his brother was alright. Gumball was laying on the floor, unconscious. After he had checked to see if Gumball was okay, Darwin hoisted the other up to carry him out of the school.

The next day, everything seemed to be ordinary. Gumball had slept in after the whole Gargoroth ordeal, and didn’t wake up until the afternoon. He yawned as he got up from his bed, but as soon as he tried to get up, he realized something. His entire body was **_very_** sore. Gumball sat back down on the bed and hissed as the pain shot up through him from the slightest movement. “ _Fuck_.” He let the word slip under his breath. Deciding it wasn’t worth it, Gumball laid back down. He wasn’t able to sleep though. He decided to reach over to grab his phone sitting next to Darwin’s fishbowl. Surely there was something to keep him entertained. Holding the phone up to him, though, gave Gumball a shocking revelation. He had claws. Not like a usual cat’s claws. Larger. Sharper. Almost even longer. He studied them over and over trying to desperately hope he was dreaming. “ _No. No. Nonononono..._ ” Starting to hyperventilate, Gumball realized his situation was very much _real_.

Gumball could feel a sharp pain in his left eye, as nausea hit him almost instantly. Standing up, he was immediately reminded of why he was still in bed in the first place. Hand over his eye, he tried his best to make it to the bathroom to vomit. He closed the bathroom door behind him and locked it. Nobody could see him like this. Kneeling over the toilet, everything inside Gumball let out. Breathing heavily, Gumball realized the nausea was over and sighed. His entire body still hurt like hell, but part of his problem was fixed. He looked over at the toxic green _whatever_ in the toilet and had a realization. That was the same stuff Gargoroth nearly drowned him with. Panic set in as Gumball pushed himself up and tried to figure out what to do. Panic turned into a frenzy as he saw himself in the mirror. Where his left eye was supposed to be, Gumball saw 5 closed eyes. He stumbled back in shock as susdenly another pain started in the left side of his neck and his shoulder. Gumball cringed as he held the area with his hand. Doing so made him realized half of his vision was completely fucked with all of his eyes open. In his frenzied state, Gumball decided he had one option; run.

He had to just get out of the house and somewhere **nobody** would see him. Standing still for a second, he played out the whole thing in his mind. He’d go down the stairs as fast as he could and run out the door. After that it’s wherever is safe. Everything seemed perfect. On a count of three, Gumball sprinted down the stairs for dear life. Out the door he went, and down the street he ran. Nothing could stop him at this point, not until he was struck with the realization that his eyesight would probably factor into how well he’d run. Closing his left eyes, Gumball stopped. It instantly sunk in that there’s no way he could be out in the open. He had to make a quick decision.  Scrambling into a nearby small alleyway, he sat in a corner as he caught his breath.

Every part of his body _stung_. The boy winced as he started to get a raging headache. “ _No, not now...._ ” Gumball mumbled to himself as the aching went all the way down his back, as well. Gumball held gripped his arms tightly as the pain caused him to tear up. He could feel something forming on his back and down his tail; prickle-like spikes. The aching lightened up as they stopped forming. Something felt off, though. He unenthusiastically peered around to see the damage. _Fuck_. ** _Two tails_**. Gumball sighed as he attempted to lean back against the wall. Although, a moment of relief turned into another scare as he could hear footsteps. Someone would walk by happen to look down the small alleyway and see him. Then it’d all be over. Gumball sat there, stiff as a brick, worrying about what would happen if he was seen, too terrified to move. The person walking by came into view and stopped dead in their tracks as soon as they saw Gumball sitting there, huddled up around himself.

 

**It was Rob.**


	2. Chapter 2

The two stared at each other like deer in a car’s headlights.

 

” _R- Rob_...” Gumball was visibly shaking. “ _What... What **happened** to you..._?“ Rob was soft spoken, a rarity from him. Gumball looked down at the ground for a couple seconds then back up at Rob. “ _It’s a long story.”_ he said under his breath. “ _Are you aright...? Does it hurt?” _ Rob was inching closer to the heap of fur huddled up on the ground near him. “ _Whuh- W-When did you start caring? You’re my nemesis aren’t you?”_

Those words stung Rob’s heart. He had forgotten the whole ordeal with the remote. He’d have to explain that later. “ _That doesn’t matter right now. Now... please answer me... **does it hurt**...?” _ Rob questioned. Gumball looked away, hiding his face to not let his nemesis see the tears forming in his eyes. “ _Uh... Kinda...”_ Gumball was hesitant. Rob kneeled down next to him and seemed.... genuinely worried? He started to eye down Gumball for any injuries, noticing where he had dug his claws into his arms, forming small cuts. Rob cringed at the sight.  _“God. You need patched up... But we can’t have you out in the open like this...”_

Looking around, Rob spotted just what he needed. An old hoodie someone had thrown away. It was full of holes, but it could work. He picked it up, dusting off any dirt on it, and looked back over at Gumball. The poor boy seemed scared. “ _You feel ok with coming with me...? I know where I can get your arm bandaged up.._.” Gumball looked up at him and nodded slightly. “ _Good_.” Rob was relieved. He helped the other up and handed the old hoodie to him. Rob couldn’t help but grin - the hoodie was way too big for Gumball and nearly went down to his knees. “ _Cmon. I know just the place_.” Gumball pulled the hood over his head and followed along.

The two started to walk along the sidewalk for what seemed to be forever. After a while, Rob had stopped Gumball in front of an unfamiliar house far beyond the neighborhood Gumball was used to. “ _Where are we_...?” The smaller questioned, twiddling his thumbs. “ _This place’s abandoned. I’ve been living here for a while now. Nobody’s lived in this place for so long everyone’s just forgotten about it.”_ Rob stepped forward, motioning for Gumball to follow.

The two walked in. Surprisingly, for an old abandoned house, Rob kept things pretty tidy. Gumball pulled the hoodie off of him and set it down on a couch, before sitting down himself. “ _I’ll be right back_.” Rob assured, leaving the room.

Gumball was left alone to think. What was going on? Why did Gargoroth do this to him? Was he ever going to go back to normal? But mostly... Why was Rob being _**nice**_ to him? Before long, Rob had come back with a small first aid kit. The kit clicked open as Rob pulled out some gauze. He started to wrap it around one of Gumball’s arms. The two were completely silent for a moment until Gumball spoke. “ _Why are you being so nice to me?_ ” The question made Rob freeze up. He sighed and continued.

“ _You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you_.” 

“ _No, no. Tell me.”_

_”Well... There was this whole big thing where I tried to... uh... hurt.... you and your loved ones.....”_

Rob went on to explain what had happened.

_”...So in the end... We had made up. But I had to fix everything I’d done by going back in time. Which meant you wouldn’t remember... anything.”_

Sighing, Rob looked up at Gumball. The cat was completely shocked. Normally he wouldn’t believe something like this, but... This isn’t the kind of thing Rob would do as an “evil scheme.” He sounded **genuine** , and the whole thing almost felt a bit familiar, as if it _did happen_. 

“ _It’s okay if you don’t belie-“_

_”No. I... I do. It’s alright.”_

Rob was relieved. He didn’t want Gumball thinking he was crazy, after all. The two were met with another moment of complete silence, as Rob finished bandaging up Gumball’s other arm and put the gauze away.

Rob leaned back on the couch for a moment. “ _Do you feel comfortable telling me what happened with... all this_?” Rob had asked. Gumball stared off into space for a moment before realizing Rob had asked him something. “ _Oh- uh... yeah.”_

_“Me, Darwin and a friend, I don’t think you know her, had made up this big prank for Halloween...”_

Just as Rob did, Gumball explained everything.

”... _And now I’m stuck like this.”_

Gumball and Rob just sat there for another moment until Gumball tapped Rob on the shoulder to get his attention. “ _Hey... Rob_?” He asked, “ _Is it... ok if I stay over for the night? I’m not ready to go back home. I don’t think I can explain everything to my family._ ” Rob looked at Gumball for a moment.

” _Sure.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOO BABEY!!! This one was a bit hard to write. I hope they aren’t too OOC, this is just how I sorta see them reacting to this situation. The way the last part is phrased makes it sound like instant romance, sorry about that. Next chapter we’re gonna be havin some fluff, though!


	3. Chapter 3

_"Ah!"_

Gumball was startled awake by yet another bad dream. This had to be the third one tonight. He rubbed his tearstained eyes and looked at the clock on his phone. 1 AM. Fuck. It felt like forever since Gumball first fell asleep. He flopped down onto the couch and stared at the ceiling for a couple seconds. Closing his eyes, he decided to let the inevitable cycle happen and fall asleep.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_"Hey..."_

_"Gumball... Gumball...!"_

_"Hey.... wake up...!"_

 

Gumball jolted awake at the feeling of something nudging his arm. He glanced over to see what was bothering him only to see Rob, somewhat concerned. Rob seemed to get a bit flustered when Gumball looked at him.  _"You- You were uh... crying in your sleep... I came to check on you..."_ he twiddled his thumbs as he spoke. Gumball put a paw to his face and had felt where fresh tears were still rolling down. Gumball shifted to where he was sitting up on the couch and huddled up, pulling his knees to his chest. Rob sat down next to him, placing a hand on Gumball's back in a weak attempt to comfort him.  _"I'm guessing you uh - had a bad dream, huh?"_ Rob said, desperately trying to make the situation better. Gumball had his eyes fixated on the floor, as if he was in deep thought. The two sat there in silence for a few seconds before Gumball spoke.

_“I don’t wanna talk about it.”_

Rob looked down at Gumball for a moment. _“That’s alright. It’s ok if you don’t feel up to it.”_

Gumball didn’t want to admit it, but he really needed any form of comfort he could get right now. He partially wanted to actually explain to Rob what was going on, to spill out everything in a big pile of emotions to him, but he partially didn’t, from fear of pushing him away by not being his usual sarcastic and semi-loveable self. He hesitated for a minute before scooting in a bit closer to Rob, hoping he wouldn’t notice.  Gumball leaned into Rob’s chest slightly as he looked up to make sure the cyclops didn’t notice a thing. He was slightly relieved when he noticed the taller of the two hadn’t noticed the movement.

 _“Hey… Rob?”_ Gumball’s voice was quiet as he tried to get Rob’s attention.

_“Yeah…?”_

_“I just wanted to say sorry again… About the whole thing with the void and all that. You didn’t deserve any of what happened to you; I really wouldn’t wish something like that on someone… not even my worst enemy… I’m so sorry…”_

Rob looked down at Gumball to see he was already starting to sob a bit. He wrapped his arms around the cat and pulled him into a hug, trying his best to comfort him. Almost immediately, Gumball held onto Rob, latching onto him like a child reuniting with their mother after getting lost.

_“You didn’t deserve this- Y-You didn’t deserve any of- this…”_

Gumball was crying hard, tears flowing down his already wet cheeks. On contact, the tears stung on Rob’s skin slightly, but he didn’t mind it too much, since he couldn’t just have Gumball stop.

_“It’s okay…. You don’t need to be sorry.”_

_“Y-Yes I do...! We should have s-saved you, but all we cared about was Mo-olly...”_

Rob was at a loss. He didn’t know what to say to help Gumball. Trying anything he could to comfort him, Rob started rubbing his hand up the side of Gumball’s back.

_“It’s – It’s alright… I swear…”_

Rob started to pet the back of Gumball’s head, comforting him any way he could. At this point Gumball had stopped responding, he just buried his face into Rob’s chest as he continued crying.

After God knows how long and about twenty or so “It’s okay”s from Rob, Gumball had finally started to calm down a bit. He had since loosened his grip on Rob and accordingly tightened it again, nuzzling into his chest.

_“What am I going to do… I’m gonna be stuck like this forever…”_

Gumball’s voice was weak and soft, almost to the point to where Rob couldn’t hear him.

_“We’ll figure this out. Somehow.”_

_“H- How can you be so sure…?”_

_“I… I just know... It’ll be okay.”_

Gumball chuckled as if he knew better. Growing tired, it became harder and harder for Gumball to keep his eyes open. He then gave in and closed them, deciding it’d be much better to just be asleep. Rob noticed this and grinned, leaning back while still holding on to the smaller boy. Rob started to pet Gumball again, feeling the soft fur as his hands moved along Gumball’s back and head. Gumball accordingly started to purr, causing the room to fill with the sound. The two of them would lay there for what seemed like forever until they both fell asleep.

There were no more nightmares that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS FINALLY HERE BOYS, AFTER OVER A MONTH I STOPPED BEING LAZY AND WROTE IT  
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
> 
> I ALWAYS SEE ROB BEING THE ONE WHO KINDA SPILLS OUT TO GUMBALL IN GUMROB FICS N I WANTED TO SEE IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND SO UH  
> HERE  
> AA
> 
> THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING FLUFF I HOPE ITS GOOD ENOUGH
> 
> GUMBALLS GONNA HAVE FUN WHEN HE REALIZES HE WAS CUDDLIN A DUDE WHILE HE STILL HAS A GF  
> OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DRAMA


End file.
